


To Face The Devil

by Hekate1308



Series: Children of Purgatory [13]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Season/Series 11, Gen, M/M, lucifer!cas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-25
Updated: 2017-07-25
Packaged: 2018-12-06 18:05:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11606034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hekate1308/pseuds/Hekate1308
Summary: Her first reaction was a loud “No“.No. No to losing her father shortly after she’d really come to know him, no to him once more sacrificing himself for the greater good, no to them having to say goodbye.Just no.





	To Face The Devil

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to one of the best friends I ever made fangirling. Happy Friendaversary!!!

Her first reaction was a loud “No“.

No. No to losing her father shortly after she’d really come to know him, no to him once more sacrificing himself for the greater good, no to them having to say goodbye.

Just no.

“Mother, I asked you for a way to save Dean. This defeats the purpose.”

“Sorry, I forgot your pet human is more important than the world at large – “

“He’s not my pet – “

“Would you two shut up? Whatever this spell is, we’re not using it”.

“Agreed” Crowley said.

Rowena narrowed her eyes.

“I didn’t think you’d go quite so far as to sacrifice the world for your pet”.

“Dean Winchester is not my pet”.

“So it’s the other way around?”

“Nobody here is anyone’s pet” Emma hissed, showing her eyes. “Now either you are willing to help or you aren’t. If you are, stay. If not...”

“My, my, a Winchester through and through.”

“She is indeed”.

Was it just her or did Crowley sound – almost smug?

“So, mother...”

“Fine, fine, I am going. I expect your call when you realize there’s nothing else to be done”.

She left.

Emma slumped down on a chair.

“You can’t tell Dad.”

“What do you take me for? I know that self-sacrificing son of a bitch. We tell him, off he goes to die for the world or whatever.”

Yes, what did she take Crowley for really, she suddenly asked herself.

Did he even realize what he’d just done? All of this didn’t seem very demonic to her, for lack of a better word.

She sighed.

Compared to this, life had been easy in Purgatory, even in the beginning.

“Well, then” Crowley drawled.

“Seems to me like we’re conspirators now, Miss Squirrel”.

* * *

 

 “Are you alright?” Madison asked her that night.

She shrugged.

It was the first time she’d kept a secret from her since she’d told her the truth about her father, back in Purgatory.

“Emma, I’m not saying...” Madison trailed off.

“I just... I want you to know you can talk to me. Any time. It doesn’t matter what about. I’ll listen.”

And just like that Emma decided that it was useless to lie. Madison knew her too well, and if she’d learned anything from her brother’s and uncle’s stories, it was best not to conceal anything from family. And Madison had as much, if not more right, to call herself that than even her dad.

“It’s Crowley’s mother.”

“The witch?” Madison asked matter-of-factly.

They’d come a long way from the amazon who’d felt she was a disgrace to her sisters and the reluctant werewolf who hadn’t even been able to escape a wendigo on her own.

“Yes. She’s found a way to get rid of Amara –“

“Great –“

“But Dean would die.”

“That... that can’t be the answer”.

“According to her, it is”.

“And according to everyone else, we’re dead. What else is new?”

Emma smiled.

“Does he know?”

“No. Crowley and I agreed that it would be best he didn’t”.

“Because he’d just jump to be the sacrifice?”

Emma nodded.

Madison’s eyes softened.

“I know this isn’t easy, but...”

“Please don’t”.

“I know. But – “

“I’m aware, alright?” she snapped.

In the next moment she was sorry for it.

“It’s clear that, if we have no other choice, if push comes to shove...” she trailed off.

Then, abruptly, as if tearing of a band-aid, she continued, “I’d never see him again. He’ll go to heaven, and I – I won’t – it’s goodbye forever, Maddie”.

How easy it had seemed back in Purgatory when she’d allowed him to walk away from her. When she hadn’t yet known him, when all she’d heard about him was how good a hunter he was and she believed he was a good man too.

Before he’d shown her how to drive the Impala, even though she’d already figured it out.

Before he’d taken her shopping for clothes.

Before he’d shown her how to bake pie.

Before she had come to love instead of just admiring him.

“Hey”.

She hadn’t realized she’d shed a single tear that was rolling down her cheek. She angrily wiped it off.

“I’m not saying it won’t happen” Madison said softly, “Hell, this is us, anything can. But there’s a reason Dean has been fighting for so long instead of just giving up. And you’re a big part of that reason.”

“You think so?”

While she hated to sound like a little girl, it was a comfort to be able to let go in front of her friend.

“Of course I do! Haven’t you heard how he talks about you? Last week I walked past the library and he was on the phone with Garth”.  

The werewolf they had yet to meet but who never failed to get Madison the animal hearts she needed.

“Point is... I know I shouldn’t have eavesdropped, but I heard your name and... Emma, all he talked about was you. How you’d got better at shooting, and what music you like, and how you “saved his ass” on the hunt last week.”

“I didn’t...”

Madison smiled.

“I guess it’s the same with most fathers. Sometimes they’re embarrassed at their own adoration...”

She looked away.

Madison hadn’t contacted her family since she had returned to earth. She couldn’t. How, as she had put it, was she supposed to explain to them that she’d died and come back as a werewolf and was now more or less dating someone they might have seen on TV as a wanted serial killer _twice_?

Even though she had assured them time and time again that she’d never been that close to her parents, in moments like this Emma wondered.

It was her decision of course, but still...

Emma had walked right back into a family she hadn’t even known she had (and which seemed to have acquired the King of Hell as the weird uncle, of all things).

Madison had returned to a world she’d no longer recognized because it wouldn’t recognize her.

“Stop that” she instructs Emma suddenly.

“Stop what?”

“That pitying stare. You used to give me that at the beginning.”

“What?”

“Right after we’d met. You know, the poor werewolf, all new, didn’t have a clue how to fight – “

“I never thought that. And I never pitied you”.

“Consciously, you mean.”

“Madison – “

“Come on, Em, I was just teasing you. But still – I’m fine. I’m even happy. I – I found my own family, alright? And it’s right here.”

That Madison considered herself family was all Emma had needed to hear.

Only later would she remember that the werewolf had used Dad’s nickname for her.

That night, in her room, she had a lot of time to think.

Falling asleep was out of the question anyway, not when Rowena had told them...

No. There had to be a way. There was always a way.

She’d died and come back to earth, right?

So why should she be scared of God’s freaking sister.

And, in the dark of the night, she suddenly had an idea.

Granted, it was not about Amara.

It was about Cas. And Lucifer.

One had to consent to being possessed by an angel, right? Lucifer probably could suppress any soul or Grace once he was inside – Uncle Sam had needed some time to break through despite his determination – but until then...

Alright, she told herself, think. Cas gave his consent. But Cas wouldn’t just give it like that – just say “Yes, please do what you want with my body, thank you very much”. He wouldn’t allow Lucifer to roam free for no reason. And Lucifer had been... interested in fighting off Amara with the Rod, all things considered.

So what if –

What if Cas had had conditions?

It wasn’t much; it was a loophole at best; but –

They didn’t have the former King of the crossroads and now Hell living with them for nothing.

Somehow, she managed to fall asleep and catch a few hours, but it was still too little for her father, who, despite Amara’s calls, immediately espied the rings under her eyes and brought her a glass of orange juice to the kitchen table. Vitamins, she supposed, as she gave him a grateful smile and he pressed a quick kiss to her head.

When everyone had gathered in the kitchen, she began, slowly, “Listen guys, I’ve been thinking about Cas and Lucifer...”

Dad didn’t flinch, but she could have sworn he grabbed his fork harder.

“Crowley... You were the King of the Crossroads, correct?”

“Yes, but even when I was, I doubt I could have made a deal to send Lucifer back where he – “

“That’s not what I meant. It’s just – loopholes. You’re good at them, right?”

“You could say that.”

“Em, what’s your point?” Sam asked.

“My point is, why would Cas say yes?”

“Because of me” Dad mumbled, and she winced.

“That’s not – I mean, he wanted to get rid of Amara. Correct?”

“Yes” Crowley confirmed. She could tell the demon was catching on.  

“So he wouldn’t have just said yes – he would have ensured that Lucifer could. He would have made Lucifer tell him. And only then he would have said yes”.

When no one said anything, she added, “It sounds like a condition to me”.

“But even if it was, how does this help us?” Sam said. “Lucifer controls Cas – there’s no – “

“This is no legal argument, Moose, the _fact_ of possession doesn’t mean a thing” Crowley interrupted him. “Thank God Miss Squirrel inherited her father’s brains when he’s not high on God’s sister.”

Dad was apparently still processing the fact that Crowley had just complimented him, although while insulting Sam, while the demon continued, “Consent and angels... it’s a difficult question. But there have been cases where the terms and conditions were discussed... wasn’t there something with Castiel’s vessel and his family?”

“Claire” Dean muttered. “And her mother. He said yes as long as they’d be safe”.

“So what happened when they were not safe anymore?”

“Cas came back and – “

Dean’s head snapped up.

“Cas came back and saved them”.

“But Dean, Amelia’s dead...”

“Yeah, but that were different circumstances, Jimmy had been gone for years at that point... I think Em might be on to something”.

“So you think Cas was... compelled to come back at the time?”

“Relax, I’m sure the choir boy would have helped out anyway, but he came back in time to save them all”.

“And he left us immediately after, Sammy!”

“God. This could actually be something”.

“It leaves the question what we’ll do with the theory, though” Madison, practical as ever, stated.

“Before that, we have to find Lucifer” Crowley replied.

“He’s not in Hell?” Sam asked.

“He hates the place”.

Emma was tempted to say _I bet you know the feeling_ , but judged it wiser to keep her mouth shut, especially since Crowley seemed to be firmly on their side for now. Better not do anything that could alienate him.

“Is there a summoning ritual for Lucifer?” Madison asked.

“There must be” Dean said. “We should call Rowena”.

Emma was impressed by Crowley’s poker face. She only hoped her own was as successful.

“I doubt my mother feels very inclined to help at this point”.

“Can’t hurt though”.

Crowley was as aware as Emma and Madison that any long hesitation would seem suspicious, since he was as anxious to get rid of Lucifer as any of them. It was the only way to get his job back, after all.

Although Emma was starting to wonder if he even wanted that.

For a demon who was supposedly still their enemy, he seemed pretty comfortable in the bunker.

But that was a subject for another day.

Right now, what mattered the most was getting Lucifer out of Cas. Then they could deal with Amara.

She didn’t care whether or not the Archangel could kill her at that point. They needed their friend back.

Especially Dad.

Crowley dutifully called his mother, but on his own; he must have told her not to mention the other possibility to Dean, since she seemed somewhat subdued when she arrived.

Alright, maybe he had threatened her a little, Emma surmised. If so, she couldn’t bring herself to care much.

“So I heard you want to summon Lucifer? Here? And I thought some among you had a brain”.

Alright, Emma had called her “subdued” not “pleasant”.

“We have a plan” Sam said.

“Fergus mentioned it. Terms and conditions? Thank you, I’ll perform the spell, then be on my way.”

“I expected nothing different” Crowley said, shrugging, and the witch’s eyes widened in surprise at the calm indifference in the demon’s face.

She wasn’t the only one more than a little astonished. Sam threw Dean a glance that clearly said “Do you have any idea what’s going on?” His brother shook his head.

As soon as Rowena had gone to search for the ingredients she needed he asked, “Crowley, you alright?”

“Ah, Squirrel, you sound almost like you care”.

“Of course I do, we need to know you’re on the top of your game.”

Neither of them was fooling anybody in the room.

“My mother is... my mother. She tried to sell me when I was a kid, and quite honestly, her values have not improved since then. I am ready to use her, but other than that, I have more important stuff to do”.

 _Dear God_ , it shot through Emma’s mind, we _didn’t just take him in; we_ adopted _him._

Now that she thought about it, apart from worry about Dad’s condition... She didn’t think she’d seen Crowley as content a he’d been as a resident of the bunker before.

Her father seemed to come to the same conclusion since he just nodded and let him be. When Sam wanted to interject, Madison gently touched his wrist. He understood the gesture.

So they simply cleared the floor in the war room, throwing the table out into the corridor for the moment, and carefully sprinkled holy oil on the floor.

“Not too big” Dad told her, “Don’t want to give him any wriggle room”.

“I wasn’t going to”.

“That’s my girl.”

He ruffled her hair affectionately.

Focusing on saving Cas apparently helped him combat Amara’s influence for the moment, she thought gratefully.

When Rowena came back, she kept shooting Crowley small glances, as if she didn’t quite know what to make of him.

“Are you ready?”

They had armed themselves with the several angel blades that had over time made their way into their possession, as well as more jugs of holy oil.

Dad looked at her and Madison, then shook his head.

“It would be useless to ask you two to get out while you can, right?”

“Totally” she said at the same time as Madison affirmed, “Completely”.

“Thought so. Alright then, won’t get much readier”.

Rowena performed the spell. Bright Light filled the room. When they could see again, she was gone.

Dean lit the match and the circle of holy fire burned.

She hadn’t grown used to looking into their kind friend’s eyes and seeing Lucifer in the slightest.

He grinned at them.

“Hi boys. You want another dance?”

“I want you out of Cas, and pronto” Dean snapped.

“Dean, Dean, Dean... He wanted it, you know. After all, he said yes...”

“And that’s where I come in” Crowley announced, keeping Dad from answering.

Lucifer’s grin grew even bigger.

“Doggie, I was wondering if they’d taken you in. Do they feed you well?”

She could see the anger in Crowley’s eyes, but his voice was calm as he replied, “I wish to discuss your and Castiel’s deal.”

“A deal? There was no deal. He said yes. He invited me in”.

“Ah, but he didn’t just look at you and go “I’m a fan, take me for a joyride now”, did he?” Crowley said slowly. “He’s dealt with you before, he should know better”.

Lucifer said nothing.

“So he did know better”.

“I have no idea what you mean”.

“That is easily enough explained, even for you. Did he tell you yes as you claimed, or did he tell you yes _after you told him you could defeat Amara_?”

“That makes no difference; it’s the yes that counts.”

“Ah, devil I know, I’m afraid this is where you are wrong. Because if I know anything about.. anything, I know _something_ about deals. After several hundred years in the business... You see, there is a difference with someone saying yes to something because he wants it, and someone saying yes to something because of conditions – outspoken or not. And in this case, you were both aware of the conditions. And you tricked him. You can’t fight Amara on your own.”

“What does that matter? I told you, I’m in –“

“It matters because it means he can throw you out whenever he wants because you, darling, aren’t fulfilling the deal”.

For a second, Emma thought she saw Cas’ Grace shining through his eyes. Her heart hammered in her chest. She gripped her angel blade tighter.

“I’m not that easily defeated” Lucifer grinned, and her hopes sank.

“Come on Cas, you hear him! He can’t fight Amara on his own! Throw him out!” Crowley ordered.

Still nothing.

And then Dad spoke.

“Cas, if it’s true, if there’s any chance... Look, man, I know why you did what you did. I understand. But this is not working out, and her call is growing stronger. Every day. And there’s nothing I can do about it. Cas, I can’t fight like this for much longer. _I need you_ ”.

And that changed everything.

Lucifer called out “No!” as the blue light once more appeared in Cas’ irises, then making his whole body glow; Emma quickly changed so she was showing her eyes, allowing her to see a bit better what was going on, and there –

Out of Cas mouth, white light was emanating, _Grace_ –

She didn’t think. She acted.

With a cry of “Move away, Cas!” she jumped in the ring of holy fire and plunged her blade into the white light, even then careful to miss his body.

A shriek so loud that she could have sworn it made the walls tremble filled the bunker. She was thrown back, whether by the noise or another force she couldn’t say, and she thought she heard her father shout her name...

When she came to, he was holding her, stroking her hair.

“Em?”

“Dad?” she mumbled, forcing her eyes open.

“Oh thank God”.

“What happened?” she asked, sitting up. He still hadn’t let go of her, and she leaned against his chest.

“There are wing marks on the floor, but no body... I think you just... killed the devil”.

“Huh”.

She sat up straight.

Yes, there were indeed two wings burned into the floor. Crowley was busy inspecting them. Sam was kneeling next to Cas.

“Is there a chance...”

She trailed off. She didn’t want to voice her fears that she might actually have killed...

“No, Cas’ wings are broken. These were Lucifer’s alright.”

“And Cas?”

Dad’s eyes wandered to his angel and back to her, clearly conflicted.

“Dean”.

Suddenly, Madison was next to them.

“I’ll look after Emma, okay? Like we took care of each other in Purgarory.”

She squeezed his shoulder.

 “Go to him.”

“Yes, do” she pleaded.

He nodded slowly.

“Alright”.

He kissed her forehead.

“Proud of you, Em”.

She smiled.

“He’s breathing” Sam told them as Dean made his way over to Cas.

“I think he’s just out cold”.

Before she could even say a word to Madison, Crowley exclaimed, “Of course”.

He strolled over to them, looking annoyed.

“Now Lucifer’s gone and I could beat Hell into submission, but instead, I am once more forced to babysit – “

“I am really – “

“I could be sitting on my throne at this moment, but no, another Winchester had to get thrown across a room – “

“There is no reason for you – “

“So I have no other choice but to stay a little bit longer”.

Crowley sighed dramatically and she understood.

“Actually, maybe I am a little banged up...”

He threw his hands in the air, and Emma and Madison suppressed a smile.

She turned her head and saw her father and uncle carry Cas out of the room.

If he really was okay –

At least one problem less, it seemed.


End file.
